Contagion: Scarily Accurate But Slightly Exaggerated

Contagion came out in 2011 and was directed by Steven Soderbergh and stars Laurence Fishburne, Matt Damon, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Kate Winslet. It is about an outbreak of an unknown virus that sweeps the world. When it originally came out it did moderately well and wasn’t thought of much after that. But now with Coronavirus sweeping the world Contagion is more relevant than ever before. There are many things accurate about this movie and a few things that are slightly exaggerated.

This movie shows the how many days the virus has spread at the bottom of the screen, starting with day two. It follows Gwyneth Paltrow around for a bit, really focusing on everything infected people touch. It just goes to show how fast something can spread through contact, just like Coronavirus. The movie is shown mainly from the CDC(Center for Disease Control) and WHO(World Health Organization) point of view. They try to determine to origin of the virus and it’s incubation period and how many people at a time it will infect. The movie takes great detail in providing this information. Since the CDC doesn’t fully know enough about the virus they give limited information to the public which causes a panic. There is more known about Coronavirus and there has been more and consistent information being given to the public. In the movie there were talking about quarantines and social distancing to prevent the spread of it.

Jude Law's character is a blogger who thinks the pharmaceutical companies and the media are working together to make profit. He represents how the media in real life caused a panic resulting in people panic shopping and making certain items like sanitizer and toilet paper hard to get. Contagion is hard not to keep your eyes glued to because of the comparison to what is happening right now in the world. Just seeing how things are handled in what is essentially an alternate reality or a look at things to come. Matt Damon represents the public's view of how the virus is shown. He is immune and was married to Gwyneth Paltrow.

The WHO thinks the origin originated in Honk Kong and came from bats and pigs. They weren’t sure how the two species came into contact. At some point the virus mutates just as the CDC thinks they have it figured out. They had been experimenting with it to create a vaccine. They determine who gets it first by doing a lottery based on birthdays. At the end of the movie they show how and where the virus originated and show day one at the bottom of the screen and the movie ends. This movie is a cautionary tale about how not giving enough information can lead to mass panic and how the media can influence people’s opinions. 🍔🍔🍔 and 1/2🍔